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X-Men (Earth-616)
Official Team Names: X-Men Team Nicknames: Children of the Atom Former Team Aliases: No known former aliases Other Current Team Aliases: No other known current aliases =Status= Team Status: Active Team Identity: The X-Men are known mutants, many of their identities are publicly known Base of Operations: Xavier Institute, Salem Center, Westchester County, New York. Formerly Australian Outback =Organization= Team Leader: Cyclops (Astonishing Squad), Storm (Uncanny Squad), Havok (Away Team) Active Members: Beast, Bishop, Colossus, Emma Frost, Gambit, Iceman, Marvel Girl, Nightcrawler, Polaris, Psylocke, Rogue, Shadowcat, Wolverine Former Members: Angel, Banshee, Cable, Cannonball, Cecilia Reyes, Chamber, Changeling, Charles Xavier, Dazzler, Husk, Jean Grey, Joseph, Jubilee, Juggernaut, Longshot, Maggott, Magneto, Marrow, Mimic, Northstar, Thunderbird, Thunderbird III, Sage, Shen Xorn, Sunfire, Stacy X Unoffical/Honorary/Interim Members: Muir Island X-Men: Tom Corsi, Sharon Friedlander, Guido, Legion, Dr. Moira MacTaggert, Multiple Man, Polaris, Amanda Sefton, Siryn Known Allies: Avengers, Excalibur, Fantastic Four, Moira MacTaggert, New Mutants, X-Factor, Stevie Hunter, Tom Corsi, Carol Danvers, Sharon Friedlander, Spider-Woman Known Enemies: Arcade, Apocalypse, Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants, Hellfire Club, Magneto, Marauders, Mr. Sinister, Mojo, Reavers, Shadow King Total Members: 41 Total Allies: Total number of allies unknown Total Enemies: Total number of enemies unknown Place of Formation: Xavier Institute, Salem Center, Westchester, New York. First Appearance: X-MEN Vol. 1 #1 =History= Classic X-Men The X-Men were founded by Professor Charles Xavier. Mutants were hated and feared because they were unlike humans, Xavier created his School For Gifted Youngsters to create a safe environment where mutants could learn to control their powers. Xavier's first group of students consisted of the bouncing Beast, the high flying Angel, telepath and telekenetic Jean Grey, Iceman, and team leader Cyclops. After training extensively in the school's Danger Room, the students were sent on field missions to protect both humans and mutants from mutants who used their powers with bad intentions. The first such mission brought them to Cape Citadel, Florida in direct confrontation with Magneto, who would go on to become their frequent enemy. All New, All Different When the first group of students were captured by the living island of Krakoa, Xavier recruited an all new, all different group. The German demon-looking teleporter Nightcrawler, Russian strongman Colossus, Irish sonic screaming Banshee, African "Goddess" of weather Storm, Japanese hothead Sunfire, and Native American Thunderbird rescued the original team. The new multi-cultural squad set the tone for future generations of X-Men. Soon after, all of the original X-Men left except for Cyclops. Sunfire abruptly quit. Thunderbird was killed during the new teams second mission against Count Nefaria. Upon rentry to Earth after a mission in space, Jean Grey pushed herself to the limits holding their spacecraft together and shielding her team members from intense radiation. Believed dead upon their crash landing in the Atlantic Ocean, Jean suddenly arose from the ocean wielding more power than ever before and calling herself Phoenix. Soon after, the X-Men returned to space to aid Lilandra Neramani of the Shi'ar stop her brother D'Ken from using the M'Krann Crystal to take over the universe. With the crystal about to shatter and destroy reality itself, Phoenix used her awesome power to fuse it back together. The X-Men returned to Earth, though Xavier and Lilanra began a romance, who became Majestrix of the Shi'ar Empire. Banshee injured his vocal chords during a battle with Moses Magnum, leaving him powerless. He still accompanied the X-Men to Muir Island when they battled Proteus, the reality altering mutant son of Moira MacTaggert. Realizing he wanted to stay by Moria's side, Banshee left the group to be with her. After the recruitment of Kitty Pryde while fighting off Emma Frost to do so, Phoenix caught the attention of Jason Wyngarde. Using a device created by Frost, he projected his illusions directly into Phoenix's mind. Believing to be Lady Grey from the seventeen hundreds and consort to Mastermind, she was easily convinced to become the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club. Phoenix broke free from Wyngarde's control when she saw a psychic version of Cyclops being murdered. Unleashing her dark side, Phoenix used her powers to drive Mastermind insane, destroy the Blackbird, and abruptly depart from Earth. Seeking to enjoy the same sense of power as when she was inside the M'Krann crystal, Phoenix traveled to a distant star and absorbed it's energy. The sun went nova, destroying a nearby planet inhabited by five billion aliens. Upon her return to Earth, Beast designed a neutralizer to subdue the all powerful entity. Xavier placed mental blocks in her mind to reduce Dark Phoenix's powers and allow Jean to regain control. Aware of the massacre in their Empire, The Shi'ar arrived on Earth demanding the death of Dark Phoenix. Xavier invoked Arin'n Haelar, an irrefusable Shi'ar duel of honor. Knowing they would win, Lilandra agreed to allow the Imperial Guard battle the X-Men. Putting up a valiant fight, the mutants fell one-by-one during a long battle on the Blue Area of the Moon. With only Cyclops and Phoenix left standing, Summers was hit by a stray energy bolt. Set into a panic, the mental blocks Xavier placed were destroyed and Phoenix was able to utilize her full power. Lilandra ordered Plan Omega, the complete destruction of the Sol system, upon Phoenix's return. To avert the loss of the entire star system, Xavier ordered the X-Men to defeat Phoenix. Jean regained control once more, only to activate a Kree weapon and commit suicide to avert another disaster. Cyclops deduced it was her plan all along. After the Dark Phoenix debacle, Cyclops left the team leaving Storm to lead, though he frequently returned and unofficially lead the team. Shadowcat became a full fledged member while Banshee left due to injury. New and old enemies alike were fought and defeated, including another bout with Magneto. As Kitty destroyed the central computer of his superweapon, Magneto lashed out and almost killed her. Horrified at his actions, Magneto ceased fighting and contimplated how he had become no better than the humans who massacred his family. Corsair of the Starjammers returned to Earth seeking the X-Men's aid in stopping a rebellion against Majestrix Lilandra. The Starjammers were blackmailed for kidnapping Lilandra while it was really Deathbird, the Majestrix's sister, in league with the alien Brood. The X-Men discovered the truth, stopped the rebellion against the Shi'ar empire, and reunited Xavier with Lilandra. Cyclops discovered that Corsair was actually his father, abducted by the Shi'ar decades earlier. The Brood resurfaced abducting the X-Men, Lilandra, and their friend Carol Danvers. Traveling across the galaxy to their home planet, a Brood Queen emplanted embryos within them. Interested by Danvers unique genetic code, she was experimented upon and became Binary. Although the X-Men escaped from "Sleazeworld" all seemed lost, as once the embryos matured their hosts would undergo a metamorphosis and become a warrior Brood. Storm was saved by a young Acanti, a large space-faring creature that resembles a whale and communicates telepathically. The Acanti had been enslaved by the Brood and used as starships, with nothing left to lose the X-Men vowed to save their race. Freeing the Acanti "prophetsinger" soul from the Brood homeworld, the X-Men were healed. Before killing the Brood Queen, Kitty Pryde found the friendly dragon Lockheed who followed her back to Earth The X-Family Grows During the prolonged period when they were abducted by the Brood, Xavier believed that the X-Men had been killed. Moira MacTaggert convinced him to form a new team of adolescent mutants that needed his help in controlling their powers. Unwilling to see more of his students perish, Xavier vower would only train them in the use of their special abilities and not send them out into combat. These New Mutants ended up in many battles regardless, and frequently aided the X-Men many times upon their reemrgence. Th X-Men learned there was one Brood embryo that had not been eliminated, one planted in Professor Xavier during their first contact with the evil aliens. Racing home they found Xavier had already transformed into one of the Brood while battling the startled New Mutants. Defeated and taken unboard the Starjammer, Xavier's mind was placed in a cloned body. Upon returning from space, Cyclops left the X-Men for a prolonged period of time. He had met Madelyne Pryor during a trip to meet his gradnparents in Anchorage and fell in loved. The two married, and had a child; Nathan. Scott returned to fight Storm over control of the X-Men, but lost and remained with his wife and child. Madelyne's own latent psychic powers held some sway over the outcome. Two more members soon joined the team. Rogue's Brotherhood of Mutants teammates couldn't help as the Carol Danvers persona began to overwhelm her own personality. Xavier agreed to aid the desperate mutant and added her to the roster. Carol Danvers was furious that her friends would allow the girl that destroyed her life to join the team, and left Earth with the Starjammers. Most of Rogue's teammates still held anomisty towards her for what she did when in the Brotherhood, but she slowly gained their trust by continually showing her bravery; she nearly died protecting Wolverine and infiltrated the SHIELD helicarrier to rescue Michael Rossi. Later, Jean Grey's daughter from an alternate timeline Rachel Summers joined. Growing from his crisis of conscience, Magneto became an X-Men ally. Near-death, Xavier convinced his old friend to take his place as headmaster of the institute. Lilandra took him from Earth to recouperate from his injuries. Using the alias of Michael Xavier, Charles Xavier's alleged cousin, Magneto ran the institute for quite a while. Xavier's original students did not trust Magneto at all, and instead formed the government sanctioned X-Factor. Unfortunately Rachel, using the Phoenix codename, went missing and Storm lost her powers right before one of their biggest tests. The "Mutant Massacre" happened quickly, with Mr. Sinister and his Marauders mercilessly exterminating the Morlocks living under Manhattan. Several of the X-Men where gravely injured; Shadowcat was unable to completely phase back to normal, Nightcrawler was in a coma, and Colossus paralyzed. Cyclops' brother and reservist Havok and telepath newcomer Psylocke, after holding her own against Sabretooth, took the injured mutants place. Colossus rejoined the X-Men, but Nightcrawler, and Shadowcat went on to become founding members of Excalibur. Following the massacre, two more members were added to the team. Hailing from Mojoworld was Longshot, actually not a mutant but a genetically enhanced human who could alter probability fields to increase his luck. Joining him was fequent X-Men ally Dazzler, a disco star who could convert sound into light energy. Both joined in time for the "Fall of the Mutants". While in Texas, the X-Men battled the Adversary and appeared to die saving Earth on live television. The X-Men did ineed perish but Roma resurrected them , also casting a spell making them undetectable to electronics and sending them to the Australian Outback. While improving public opinion on the herosim of mutants, their friends and family including the New Mutants and X-Factor believed them to be dead. The cybernetically enhanced Reavers were introduced as enemies while in the Outback, former Hellfire Club member Donald Pierce soon became their leader. Soon, the X-Men were lured back to New York for the "Inferno". Madelyne Pryor, who had always beared a striking resemblence to Jean Grey, was in fact a clone created by Mr. Sinister that a part of the Phoenix Force entered after commiting suicide on the Moon. Pryor struck a deal with the demon N'astirh to become the Goblin Queen out of anger for Cyclops; he abandoned her and their child Nathan once Jean Grey turned out to be alive. N'astirh's intentions to sacrifice Nathan to allow demons to freely travel to Earth becomes apparent as his spells slowly converted New York City into a hellish nightmare. X-Men and X-Factor, after beeing pitted against one another, defeated the demon. Pryor was suicidal after learning or her origin, and killed herself in an attempt to bring Jean Grey with her. Jean survived, and absorbed the remaining Phoenix essence within Madelyne. Divided Besides resurrecting the X-Men, Roma gave them a mysterious jewel called the Siege Perilous. The magical gem could enlarge to a giant portal. All who entered would be judged by higher powers, their good acts and ill deeds weighed, and be reborn in a new life without remembering their past lives. The X-Men found no use for the jewel during the Inferno, against the alien Brood, or when returning to the Savage Land. Curious, Dazzler used her powers to take a look inside the illuminated gem. She saw various alternate versions of herself before they all were murdered and merged into a single being that warned Dazzler everyone dies sometime. Later the same day, a merged Nimrod/Mastermold attacked the X-Men. With only herself and Rogue left standing, Dazzler threw the Siege Perilous behind the Sentinel hoping her enemy would be sucked into the portal. While the portal appeared, the Nimrod/Mastermold anchored itself to the ground and grabbed Rogue as she tried to push it through. With no other choice, Dazzler blasted both of them into the gateway. With Rogue presumed dead, and other members leaving the team, the X-Men were down to only Havok, Dazzler, Colossus and Psylocke. Back in the Savage Land to rescue Polaris, Psylocke had a precognitive vision of the X-Men dying back in the Australian Outback and a bound Gateway pointing to the Siege Perilous. Worried about her vision, Betsy wasn't able to warn the others before Gateway teleported them back to the Outback. Immediately sensing the Reavers approaching when they returned to Australia, Psylocke suggested using the Siege Perilous to escape as the X-Men were in no condition to face the deadly cyborgs. After a brief discussion, and telepathic convincing of Havok, all four mutants entered the gateway. As the portal collapsed back into a gem, Donald Pierce arrived and smashed the jewel to pieces. Meanwhile, Polaris boarded a freighter to travel back home. Her magnetic powers stolen by Zaladane and replaced with awkward size changing and invulnerability, Lorna couldn't simply fly back to her friends. Strangely, she noticed the sailors began to act weird and that her body had become a nexus for negative emotional energy. As chaos erupted on board, Lorna contacted Muir Island for help bringing Banshee to rescue her. Lorna informed all Muir Island residents that the X-Men were indeed alive, but a sudden siege occured anything could be done. A haphazardly created interim group of X-Men was formed to protect allies of the mutants living on Muir Island from an attack by Pierce's Reavers. Lorna joined mutants Forge, Banshee, Multiple Man, Siryn, the morlock Sunder, X-Allies Sharon Friedlander, Tom Corsi, Alysande Stuart, Amanda Sefton, Legion and Moira MacTaggart to defend the research center. Val Cooper dispatched Freedom Force to assist. Though the attack was repelled, Sunder and Stonewall were killed by the cyborgs while Destiny was murdered by a Shadow King possessed Legion. The remaining "Muir Island X-Men" stayed, under the influence of the psychic entity. Weeks after entering the gateway, Rogue in the empty Australian base with her memory intact. At first believing the cosmic judging was a joke, she then realized the memories she contained belonging to Carol Danvers were gone. She was then attacked by Ms. Marvel, and discovered the Siege Perilous had given both personalities within Rogue a body connected to a single life force. Rogue was prepared to die, but Magneto intervened and killed Danvers. The two spent time in the Savage Land, allying themselves with Ka-Zar against Zaladane, and began to become attracted to one another. Their relationship ended before it had a chance to blossom once Magneto killed Zaladane, which Rogue opposed. After the Reaver assault Forge and Banshee began to look for the missing X-Men, and found Colossus in New York City under the guise of Peter Nicholas. His memory of his superheroing life and his special powers gone, Colossus had become a popular artist in Soho living with Genoshan emigrants. Peter even began a realtionship with the Morlock Callisto, her face molded in that of a beautiful model by Masque. Realizing he was happy in his new life, his former teammates left him alone. Psylocke was found naked and amnesiac by agents of The Hand. Her mind and soul were transfered into the Asian body of Kawannon, and she was brainwashed into becoming the Lady Mandarin. On a mission she faced Wolverine, and upon attacking him with her psychic knife the backlash of memories of the X-Men began to break her free from the Hand's control. Storm, believed killed by the Nanny, had actually been de-aged to a pre-teenager; loosing her memories of her adult life in the process. She was framed for muder by the Shadow King, and went back to being a theif. Eventually she crossed paths with Gambit and the two began a partnership, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Found by the Nanny before long, the two defeated her and though Ororo's memories were returned she remained a child. Ororo took Gambit with her to the X-Mansion and reunited with Forge and Banshee as they were on their search for the missing X-Men. Unfortunately, tests proved Storm was stuck without her powers as a prepubescent . Dazzler was discovered on the beach by Guido, Lila Cheney's bodyguard. Alison learned of her past life through computer files, and became trapped in the Mojoverse after a teleport of Lila's went awry when trying to save Longshot from Spiral. Reunited The partially regrouped team at the X-Mansion is soon thrown another hurdle; Magistrates from Genosha arrive to capture the mutants for crimes committed on the island. Ororo recognizes one of the attackers to be Havok, but cannot warn her teammates before she is defeated along with the New Mutant members Warlock, Wolfsbane, Rictor, and Boom-Boom. All are transported to Genosha by Pipeline and brought before their true captor: Cameron Hodge. Once an X-Factor ally, Hodge actually despises mutants and made a deal with the demon N'astirh to become immortal, and came to take control of the nation. Warlock, already weakened, is able to help his friends escape. Hodge intends to aquire Warlocks transformation powers, but Wolfsbane returns to stop the transfer though Warlock is already dead. Rhane is recaptured, and transformed into a mutate. X-Facor joins the remaining New Mutants and interim X-Men, consisting only of Gambit, Forge, and Banshee, on a rescue mission to save their friends. In South Asia Wolverine, Psylocke, and Jubilee hear of their friend's fates on the news and end up rescuing Boom Boom and Rictor. Jubilee tends to the young mutants, while Logan and Besty infiltrate Hodge's citidal only to be discovered by Havok. The X-Men and X-Factor fare no better, with both squads becoming captives. When Havok sees his brother defeated by Hodge, Alex remembers his life before entering the Siege Perilous. Meanwhile Storm had taken Genegineer David Moreau, creator of the mutate process, hostage but was defeated by Hodge and forced to become a mutate. A mock trial found the mutants guilty, and all are given the choice of being transformed into a mutate or death. They choose death, but Hodge first has to deal with the insurrection of the Genegineer, aware Hodge's actions were insane, and many magistrates including Wipeout. As Wipeout had canceled most of the X-Team's mutant powers, Hodge killed him hoping they would be permenantley lost. Unbeknownst to Hodge, Moureau gave Storm the ability to return the mutants their gifts rather than into a mutate. A rebel magistrate brought Storm to the X-Men and as she used her powers, Ororo reverted back into an adult and regained her powers. Ororo then restored her teammates abilities, and all escaped and started hunting for Hodge. Concurrently, Moreau planted a bomb to destroy all laboratories within the citidal. Furious, Hodge killed the traitor, though the Genegineer was able to weaken him considerbly. The X-Men eventually found their enemy and attacked. Cyclops and Havok unleashed a powerful assault destroying all but Hodge's head which falls near Wolfsbane, who rips it to pieces in a rage. Rictor causes tremors to finally destroy the citidal, burrying the remains of Hodge's broken body. Chief Magistrate Anderson leads a revolt against the Genoshan government, and the Magistrates are able to seize power. Havok and Wolfsbane choose to stay behind and make sure mutants are given fair treatment. Because of the intense media coverage of the Genoshan disaster, the world learns the X-Men are alive. Regardless, the reunited mutants returned to Salem Center and begin to rebuild the team that had been splintered for months. Upon their arrival, Warlock's ashes were spread over Doug Ramsey's grave. Unfortunately, there is no rest for the X-Men. Soon after Xavier returns to Earth from his adventures with the Starjammers, an old enemy returns. Shadow King has been spreading waves of hate around the globe, and uses Polaris to absorb the negative emotional energy to empower himself to unthinkable levels. Professor X uses Cerebro to identify the source of the chaos returned from his soujurn in space, sends the X-Men to Muir Island to confront their oddly acting allies. It seems Moir MacTaggart has been training the "Muir Island X-Men", and new visitors Rogue and Lila Cheney have taken up residence and participated in duels. When the mutants arrive to investigate, they are surprised and defeated by the Shadow King-controlled island residents. Back in Westchester, Stevie Hunter is attacked by a possessed Colossus. Xavier finds no way to break Shadow King's control over him other than erasing the Peter Nicholas personality completely. Charles then asks his original students, X-Factor, to rescue the current X-Team. On Muir Island, Shadow King uses Legion as his human host after the current one is killed while Forge has eluded possession and even freed some of his friends. The remaining heroes in good mind are divided into three teams, focusing on an atral plane attack on Farouk with a second team defending Xavier from physical attacks and a third freeing Polaris and disrupting their enemies' nexus. Forge suceeds in using a neuro-synaptic weapon on Psylocke so she can use her "psychic-knife" on Polaris to destroy Farouk's nexus. Xavier is badly wounded during the battle, his legs broken and again confined to a wheelchair. As Shadow King disappears, Legion falls into a coma and the devistation on of Muir Island is apparent. Most importantly, all five X-Factor members return to the X-Men along with Rogue and Colossus; after many years the X-Men have finally reunited as one team. Blue and Gold Following the events on Muir Island, the interim team go their sperate ways. Val Cooper asked Multiple Man, Polaris, and Strong Guy to join Havok & Wolfsbane (returned from Genosha) along with the Avenger Quicksilver in the new government sanctioned X-Factor. Siryn joins up with X-Force. Sharon Friedlander and Tom Corsi work undercover at a private school looking after a latent mutant. Amanda Sefton eventually joines Excalibur. Forge, Moira, and Banshee return to the X-Mansion and act as the team's support staff. With the team now larger than ever before, organization suddenly became essential; who would make up the X-Men? To remain effective as a group, the X-Men were divided into two squads: *Blue Squad: Cyclops, Wolverine, Jubilee, Beast, Psylocke, Rogue, and Gambit *Gold Squad: Storm, Jean Grey, Archangel, Iceman, Colossus, and newcomer Bishop The Gold Squad began their tenure attending a party at the Hellfire Club thrown by Emma Frost. The White Queen explained she and other members of the Club were targets of assasination, and sought the help of her former enemies. Before long, Trevor Fitzroy arrived and began to attack Frost and her Hellions. In Australia, Donald Pierce was under attack by Fitzroy's Sentinels. Gateway teleported Pierce to New York, along with three of the attacking robots. The Sentinels seemingly killed Frost, Pierce, and Jean Grey. Fitzroy drained the life of every Hellion he could subdue, killing all of Frost's students. Returning her body to the X-Mansion, Xavier realized Jean's consciousness had been relocated to Emma Frost's body. Jean woke up while in the custody of Fitzroy and Shinobi Shaw, who were revealed to be members of the Upstarts. The Upstarts competed in a contest of murder run by the Gamesmaster. Their first targets were former and current Hellfire Club members, and Fitzroy believed he had won and is entitled to run the Upstarts. Jean surprised the two by using telekinesis, a power Emma Frost lacks, and escaped with the X-Men. Fitzroy used the Hellions life escence to open a portal to the future and bring some allies. Bishop, a future X-Man born in the 21st century, arrived instead. Fitzroy escaped, and Bishop joined the present day X-Men. Xavier realized the White Queen's psyche also remained alive, and returned it to her own comotose body. The Blue Squad meanwhile battled Magneto and his Acolytes. Discovering Moira MacTaggart altered his DNA years ago when he regressed to a toddler, Erik questioned if his recent turn to heroics was a result of Moira's tampering or his own free will. Magneto forced Moira to brainwash the Blue Squad into joining his Acolytes and reside on Asteroid M, a space station haven for mutants. To make matter worse, the American and Russian governments decided to use a plasma cannon on the space station to end the threat of Magneto once and for all. Worried about their friends, the Gold Squad sneaks on board and rescued their teammates, while a traitorous Fabian Cortez abandons Asteroid M and plans to make Magneto a martyr so mutants around the world will join him. Xavier tried to talk the Acolytes into escaping the doomed base with the X-Men, but Magneto and his followers instead stayed to die. Battles with Omega Red (a member of the Soviet Super Soldier program) and Hazard followed before the two teams fought together during the "X-Cutioners Song". Professor X was giving a speech during a Lila Cheney peace concert when Stryfe (disguised as Cable) shot Xavier and infected him with a technoorganic virus. Simulataneously, Cyclops and Jean Grey were abducted by the Horsemen of Apocalypse in Westchester. They are delivered to Mr. Sinister, disguised as Apocalypse unbeknownst to the Horsemen. Sinister handed over the Summers couple to Stryfe in exchange for a mysterious container. The Gold Team searched for Scott and Jean while the Blue Team joined X-Factor in hunting down X-Force for information on Cable's whereabouts. Cable convinced Wolverine and Bishop it was Stryfe who shot Xavier and not himself, revealing both are from the future and have long been enemies. Apocalypse woke up from rejuvenation to find he had been impersonated, and is defeated by Stryfe. With Beast and Dr. MacTaggert unable to save Xavier, they are forced to work with Apocalypse. He sped up the cycle of the techno-organic virus, forcing the pathogen to burn itself out before it can kill the Professor. Wolverine recieved a subconscious telepathic message from Jean, hinting that she was being held captive on the Moon. The X-Men found Stryfe's Moon base and launched an attack. Scott and Jean are rescued, though Cable disappeared with Stryfe into the timestream. Meanwhile, Sinister opened his container to find nothing inside. It is soon revealed that Essex opened a Pandora's Box with Stryfe's final revenge on the Summers clan; the mutant infecting Legacy Virus. Apocalypses Following the assasination attempt, the X-Men seemingly dealt with one crisis after the next without a break. Magneto resurfaced very much alive and with a new lead Acolyte: Exodus, the self proclaimed voice of Magneto. During "Fatal Attractions" Magento prepared an all out war on humanity upon learning the Magneto Protocals, a plan to alter the Earth's electromagnetic field to inhibit Erik's powers, had been activated. Devastated by his sister's death by the Legacy virus, Colossus loses faith in Xavier's dream and decides to join Magneto and try his. The rest of the X-Men stand by their mentor and attacked Magneto on his new space base Avalon when he begins sending massive EMP waves around the globe. Jean and Xavier attacked him telepathically, while Wolverine defends Quickvsilver to save him from his own father. Wounded and furious, Magneto rips the adamantium laced onto Logan's skeleton out of his body and leaves him near death. Unable to deal with his old friend's violence any longer Xavier shut down Magneto's mind, leaving him a vegetable. Colossus stayed with his leader, vowing to care for him until he heals. Not long after, the X-Men must deal with the Phalanx Covenant. The Phalanx, a techno-organic race bent on ruling the world, takes over the X-Mansion and assumes the form of various X-Men. Banshee manages to escape along with the captive Sabretooth, a recovering Emma Frost, and the youngest X-Man Jubilee. Banshee learns the Phalanx are after the next generation of mutants, hoping to experiment and eventually be able to absorb the young mutants into their collective. Sean and Emma are able to save the targeted young mutants, but only with the sacrifice of the young Clarice Ferguson, aka the 616 Blink. The saved teenage mutants become Generation X and are taught how to use their mutant powers by Banshee and Frost at the Massachusetts Academy. Around this time, the Blue and Gold squads dissipate into one large X group. Generation X is still in it's infancy when Legion wakes up from his coma with his fragmented mind completely healed. Wanting to make up for the pain he has caused his father, David Haller plans to travel back in time to kill Magneto; eliminating the greatest threat to human/mutant coexistance and fufilling his father's dream. Bishop, Storm, Iceman, and Psylocke travel back in time to stop him, but are defeated. As Legion fires a powerful psi-blast at Erik Lehnsherr, Charles Xavier takes the sacrifices himself to save his friend. With his own father dead, Legion fades away along with the rest of the X-Men. Only Bishop, a temporal anamoly, remains unaffected. In the present day, a crystalline wave emerges from the M'Krann Crystal and eliminates all of reality. Legion's altering of the timeline is devastating. Noticing the mutant energies during the battle against Haller, Apocalypse begins his world domination a decade earlier than he would've otherwise. Rather than be defeated by X-Factor, Apocalypse and his Horseman conquer all of North America in a world known as the Age of Apocalypse. He erects a citidal on Manhattan Island with breeding pens and ghastly experiments run by Sinister and Dark Beast, a twisted version of Hank McCoy. Humans flee to Europe, and are frequently massacred by Sentinels. In this reality, the X-Men are created by Magneto and act as freedom fighters. Although they suffer many casualties, the X-Men are able to send Bishop back in time to stop Legion and restore reality to normal. Somehow four AOA individuals remain in the normal 616 reality (X-Man, Sugar Man, Dark Beast, Holocaust) while two (Blink and Sabretooth) join the dimensional hopping Exiles. Onslaught When the Professor shut down Magneto's mind months earlier, Erik Lennsherr's anger combined with Xavier's repressed negativity resulted in the birth of a psychic being. Lying dormant, Xavier's increased frustration with anti-mutant sentiment, deaths due to the Legacy Virus, and failing his own students led him to the breaking point. Immediately following the end of the Age of Apocalypse, a mutant is murdered outside the grounds of the Institute by an angry mob. This final failure of Charles Xavier awakens the near-invulnerable entity: Onslaught. Concurrently, Rogue discovers the engimatic Joseph. At first she believed him to be Magneto playing dumb, but realized he was truely amnesiac. Concluding he must be Magneto without any memories, Rogue brought him to the X-Men. Using Xavier's body, Onslaught aims to turn the human race into a collective. Seeking more power, he absorbs the powerful mutants Franklin Richards and X-Man. Erecting a citidal on Manhattan Island and closing it off from the rest of the world, Onslaught uses Sentinels and mutant minions to battle rebelling heroes. A first strike by the combined might of the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and the X-Men frees Xavier from the entity's control and leaves him as psionic energy contained within special armor. Jean Grey aids the Hulk in destroying Onslaught's armor. Thor then flew into the now unprotected psionic energy being and managed to damage him. Surmising mutants would only empower Onslaught, the other non-mutant members of the Avengers and Fantastic Four followed and sucessfully destroyed the entity while seemingly sacrificing their own lives. In actuality, Franklin Richards used his reality warping powers to transport them to a pocket universe. No one discovers the fate of the 616 heroes for a while, and until then ani-mutant hysterity erupts into chaos. Professor Xavier is taken into federal custody. The mysterious Bastion uses the Onslaught crisis to push his militant anti-mutant agenda to the United States government. With the nations approval, Bastion's Prime Sentinels hunt down and eliminate mutants across the country under Operation: Zero Tolerance. Five members of the X-Men (Cannonball, Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm) are captured along with members of Generation X, though all manage to escape. The Xavier Institute is completely ransacked, though Cable is sucessful in protecting the mansion's extensive computer systems. In New York City, Iceman manages to save Dr. Cecilia Reyes (a mutant with a psioplasmic force field) from termination, though her genetic secret is exposed. The bone-wielding Morlock Marrow and Israeli mutant Sabra join the two and take the confrontation to Bastion himself. Before the matter can worsen, Senator Kelly is brave enough to put an end to the murder and SHIELD arives to arrest the madman. Bastion is later revealed to be the Nimrod/Mastermind robot upon emerging from the Siege Perilous. Meanwhile the other X-Men are returning from a space journey to aid the Shi'ar, and Bishop is separated from his teammates along with Deathbird. The rest end up prisoners of the Nanny, and are eventually brought before Erik the Red (a disguised Magneto) who puts Gambit on trial for past crimes. Erik reveals Gambit lead the Marauders to the Morlocks during the "Mutant Massacre". Repulsed, Remy's friends abandon Gambit half-naked in Antarctica. Returning home, the remaining X-Men help save Cyclops from Bastion's last laugh; a bomb planted in his chest. Dr. Reyes, Marrow, and Maggott (a mysterious mutant met by Psylocke and Angel with intestines that became giant maggotts) stay at the Institute and join the X-Men. The Summers leave for Alaska so Scott can recover from his wounds, leaving Storm and Wolverine in charge. Rogue, Joseph, Psylocke, and Cannonball also remain. The new team only exists briefly, battling Alpha Flight and extradimensional demons. Shadow King returns to trick Psylocke into giving him control of every mind on Earth, and all telepaths briefly loose their powers. Betsy manages to defeat him, though she must not use her telepathy or telekinesis so as to keep him prisoner. Reformation With the disbanding of Excalibur, former X-Men Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, and Colossus return to the team and begin an era of change. Dr. Reyes sets up practice in Salem Center, opting out of the superhero life, while Maggott disappears. The new squad faces a seemingly alternate group of X-Men lead by Professor Xavier, though it's actually created by a sentient Cerebro. Confiscated by Bastion, the nanotechnology used to cleanse the Institute gave the mutant locater artifical intelligence. As the X-Men try to solve the mystery, they find the real Xavier and bring him back to Westchester. Unexpectedly, Magneto resurfaces once more. Holding the Earth hostage with the planets electromagnetic field in his control, the X-Men travel to his Antartica base. Joseph is revealed to be a clone created by Astra, an old foe of Magneto, and was supposed to kill his genetic brother but his amnesia got in the way. In the end, Joseph sacrifices himself to stop Magneto. Yet, the United Nations gives into the terrorists demands anyway; Erik Lensherr is handed the island of Genosha. Apocalypse returns and finally reveals the secret of "The Twelve", a dozen mutants prophesized to defeat him. The X-Men try and round up the mutants listed as the twelve according to one of Destiny's diaries. With the help of Skrulls and his new Horseman, Apocalypse manages to capture them first and admits he is the one who started the rumor of mutant saviors; He instead plans to absorb the powers of "The Twelve" to become invincible and unveil the Age of Apocalypse! Using X-Man as a vessel for intense energy, the Living Monolith acts as a power conduit transfering the power of the other mutants: Storm, Sunfire, and Iceman (the forces of nature); Magneto and Polaris (opposing magentic poles); Bishop and Mikhail Rasputin (time and space); Cyclops, Cable, and Jean Grey (familial unit); and Xavier (mind). Apocalypse did not factor in Magneto's weakened powers, which breaks the machine used for the power transfer and frees the twelve. X-Man is still in danger of being possessed by Apocalypse, so Cyclops decides to free Nate and take his place. With no sign of their former friend, the X-Men destroy Apocalypse and Scott is presumed dead. Soon after, the High Evolutionary is manipulated by Sinster to revert all mutants back into humans. The X-Men temporarily enjoy normal life, but their powers return shortly. Six months pass, and the Neo emerge. Claiming to be the next stage in evolution after homo sapiens superior, they were also effected by the High Evolutionary's actions and suffered casualties. The Neo battle the X-Men several times, who now include Cable within their ranks. Dr. Reyes is brought back into the X-World temporarily. The Neo eventually yield to Magneto, who is about to wage war on humanity. Meanwhile, Senator Robert Kelly is running for President on an anti-mutant platform. Sage attempts to persaude him from causing a race war, but he remains headstrong. Mystique again attempts an assasination along with her Brotherhood, but makes her actions much more obvious. The Brotherhood's attack on Kelly is prevented by a dying Pyro, who begs the Senator to stop the circle of violence. Kelly beings to think twice. Mystique's real intentions are more sinister; she has tampered with the Legacy Virus to relase a strain that infects only regular humans. During the attempt on Kelly's life, Mystique and Sabretooth attack Muir Island where Dr. MacTaggart has finally discovered a cure of the virus. Darkholme neutralizes Wolfsbane's powers as she tries to defend her mother, whom Mystique mortally wounds. Mystique even stabs her own foster daughter Rogue attempting to keep the cure hidden, yet she recovers quickly enough and subdues Raven. Professor Xavier is able to transfer Moira's knowledge of the virus to his mind before she dies. As Cable aids his mentor, a human angry at Senator Kelly's change of stance on mutants shoots and kills him. Beast uses Moira's data to create the Legacy Virus cure. Unfortunately, a mutant power signiture must be actived for the cure to disperse around the world. Impatient for Dr. McCoy to discover another way, Colossus injects himself with the cure and activates his mutant power; killing himself but saving the lives of countless mutants. Jean Grey still can't believe Cyclops is truely dead, and goes on a journey with Cable to discover the truth. The two eventually find Scott in the Middle East using Jean's rapport with her husband. Cable uses his psimitar to cleave Apocalypse's final hold on his father. Returned to his friends, Cyclops becomes more distant and self-conscious due to insecurities from being possessed. His marriage deteriorates, and eventually leads to him seeking comfort from the White Queen. With the Legacy Virus cured, the mutates on Genosha are healthy enough for Magneto to amass a superpowered army. Unfortunately, Storm has left the X-Men with a squad in search of Destiny's diaries while others have left for personal reasons when Lensherr captures Xavier and brings him to Genosha on the eve of his invasion. Cyclops and Wolverine inflitrate the island nation as Jean Grey recruits ex-Alpha Flight member Northstar, Wraith, Paulie Provenzano, and Sunfire's sister Sunpyre to join an interim X-Men team. Dazzler shows up seeking help but also joins the group, and Jean mentally controls the Acolyte Frenzy to aid the team. On Genosha, the team manages to free Xavier who mentally stops Magneto from ripping out Wolverine's adamantium a second time. Convinced there is no other way, Logan impales Magneto. X Goes Global The X-Men are again divided into squads, this time under different circumstances. * "X-Treme" Squad: Storm, Thunderbird (Neal Shaara), Beast, Rogue, Bishop, Psylocke, Sage Not trusting Xavier or anyone else with knowledge of the future of mutantkind, Storm secretly gathered a squad to abtain the prophetic diaries of Destiny. The team leaves the safety of the Institute and becomes mobile. Early on, Psylocke is killed and Beast critically injured by Vargas. Australian siblings Lifeguard and Slipstream join later in the quest. Eventually the team abandons the search after realizing the prophecies only come true if you choose to let the diary control their actions. * Uncanny/Away Squad: Angel, Nightcrawler, Iceman, Chamber, Wolverine The "Away Team" of X-Men had their own problems to deal with, confronting Banshee's paramilitary X-Corp, an organization crated to patrol the growing mutant population. Sean formed the team in his grief after Moira's death. Mystique was unapproving of his using some villanous mutants against their will. She infiltrated the X-Corps and slit Banshee's throat, putting an end to the X-Corp. Mutant prostitute Stacy X briefly joined the team after her brothel was destroyed by the mutant hating Church of Humanity. Later, a reformed Juggernaut, psychotic Polaris, Northstar, and Havok join the team. * New X-Men: Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Emma Frost, Beast, Wolverine After the Eve of Destruction crisis, the Massachusetts Academy closes its doors. Professor Xavier requests that Emma Frost teach on Genosha for unspecified reasons. A new nemesis for the X-Men arrives in the form of Cassandra Nova, Xavier's twin sister whom he killed in the womb. The fetal Xavier recognized her as inherently evil, his own personal "mummudrai", and strangled her until she was delivered stillborn. Very powerful, Cassandra remained alive but weak, until decades later she was finally able to create a psionic body. Nova resurfaces in South America and activates a forgotten Master Mold, manufacturing immense Sentinels to attack Genosha. Magneto, alive but paralyzed from Wolverine's attack, can do nothing but watch as the entire island along with sixteen million mutants are exterminated. Ms. Frost appeared at first to be the only survivor thanks to a sudden mutation of diamond-hard skin. Many mutants around the world began mutating further and gaining new powers. Dr. McCoy labeled them as secondary mutations. Other secondary mutations noted were Jean Grey's returned telekinesis and Beast's more feline appearance. Nova was brought into custody by Cyclops and Wolverine, but managed to break free at the Xavier Institute and switch bodies with Charles Xavier. In Xavier's body, Nova shot her previous body to near death. At this point, Emma Frost officially joined the team and the Institute was reopened to students, containing a much larger student body and classes taught by X-Men. On live television, Nova-as-Xavier admitted to the world he and all resident at the Institute were mutants, revealing the X-Men's best kept secret. Only the Beast suspected anything was wrong, and Nova beat him into a coma before leaving on Lilandra's starship for the outer reaches of space. Jean Grey assumes the role of Headmistress at the Institute and promptly drives off an attack by the U-Men; humans who graft mutant tissue to themselves. During her defense of the school, Jean manifests the Phoenix raptor. Meanwhile, Cyclops and Emma Frost are captured by John Sublime (leader of the U-Men) as he forces Martha the mutant brain to telepathically subdue the X-Men. Both manage to escape, and a freed Martha manipulates Frost into dropping Sublime off of his skyscraper. Beast finally awakes from his coma to warn his teammates Xavier's mind has been trapped in Nova's dead body. Chinese healer Xorn II accepts an invitation to join the X-Men in time for another bout with Cassandra Nova. After wreaking havok on the Shi'ar Empire, Nova fools the Imperial Guard into attacking the Institute. The X-Men are weakened by nanosentinels that have been planted by Nova, but are cured by Xorn. Jean is able to fragment Xavier's mind with the help of Cerebra, and place a tiny part in every mutant mind on Earth. As Nova returns to the school and is about to use the mutant locator to eliminate every mutant on Earth, Xavier's mind instead reforms and reassumes control of his body. Once again pure psionic energy, Emma Frost tricks Nova into entering the body of the synthezoid Imperial Guard member Stuff. Trapped, Cassandra is reeducated and unable to flee. The Imperial Guard note that 'The Phoenix is coming, and she is terrifying.' Without purpose, the X-Treme team returns to the Mansion (minus Slipstream, Lifeguard, and Thunderbird). Rogue and Gambit take a leave of absence after their powers are lost. Conflict with Emma and Xavier over the fate of an accused mutant killer quickly drives them away again. Cannonball joins the team before they face Reverend Stryker and Lady Deathstrike. Storm is soon asked by the United Nations to lead the X-Treme Sanctions Executive (XSE), a government sanctioned and peaceful paramilitary force responsible for policing relations between humans and mutants. The remaining X-Treme members join along with Wolverine and Magma. Rachel Summers is rescued from Elias Bogan by the XSE, and also joins. With his secret out, Xavier changes his strategy and creates the X-Corporation. With headquarters in many major cities around the globe, the new organization acts in more proactive ways to improve human-mutant relations. Unfortunately, the Paris X-Corp must stop the menace of an experiment of the Weapon Plus program, with Darkstar dying in the process. Unrest slowly takes over the mansion, with Quentin Quire and his Omega Gang boldly pushing Magneto's policies during "Open Day" as humans visit the Institute. Becoming violent under the influence of the drug Kick, the Omega Gang begins attacking humans and the intruding X-Men. Sophie, one of Emma's telepathic quintet protege Stepford Cuckoos, perishes using Cerebra to stop the Gang's rampage. The grief of Sophie's sister, Esme, leads her to reveal Emma and Scotts psychic affair and shoot Frost while she is in her diamond form; splintering her into thousands of pieces. Sage and Bishop's detective work find the culprit, but Esme flees the Institute. Although furious at Emma for becoming close to her husband, Jean displays vast telekinetic power and reforms Emma's broken body. Xorn begins pushing Magneto's theories on his Special Class of young mutants. Unapproving, Xavier confronts him only to discover Xorn is Magneto in disguise. Trapping Wolverine and Jean Grey on the remnants of Asteroid M and incapacitating the other X-Men, Lensherr destroys the Institute and takes over Manhattan. Moving closer to the Sun, Wolverine kills Jean so she can unlock the power of Phoenix. Cyclops leads a last ditch assault on Magneto and his allies, and Phoenix returns in time to defeat the mad mutant. On several occasions,they note that something is odd about Magneto, which infuriates him. He makes various threats such as ripping out Wolverine's adamantium again as 'proof' that he really is Magneto. Knowing he is defeated, Magneto uses his stored energy to give Phoenix a stroke 'on the planetary level'. Wolverine decapitates Magneto in a berserker rage as Jean Grey dies in the arms of her husband. With Jean dead, Cyclops rejects Emma's advances and leaves the Institute in Beast's hands. Hank can't deal with the pressure of running the school by himself, and begins taking Kick to deal with the stress. Kick turns out to be an aerosol form of Sublime, an ancient parasitic bacteria that took the human form of John Sublime. Infected by Sublime, Beast creates a chain reaction that destroys civilization. Years later, Jean is reborn as the Phoenix. Although first controlled by Beast, Wolverine and the remaining X-Men restore her memory. After eradicating Sublime, Phoenix travels through the timestream and pushes Scott to embrace Emma's advances, averting the disastrous future. New Age Scott Summers and Emma Frost become co-headmasters of the rebuilt Xavier Institute. The returning students are arranged into squads led by other X-Men. Professor Xavier leaves for Genosha, and begins rebuilding the nation with the help of Magneto; "Xorneto" was an imposter. The XSE make the Institute their headquarters, while the other X-Teams are rearranged. * XSE: Storm, Wolverine, Bishop, Cannonball, Sage, Marvel Girl (Rachel Summers) The XSE battles the Fury, Savage Land mutates, and a new Hellfire Club. Sage leaves the team to aid Sunspot in controlling the Club, hoping to prevent Roberto becoming corrupted by power. Cannonball soon rejoins X-Force after recouperating from injuries sustained battling the Fury. Psylocke suddenly appears alive and well in the exact spot she was murdered. Although surprised, she is welcomed back to the team. * "Away" Team: Havok, Iceman, Polaris, Northstar, Juggernaut, Gambit, Rogue, Shen Xorn The real Xorn briefly joins the X-Team, and helps battle the latest incarnation of the Brotherhood. Towards the end, the Brotherhood members are sucked into the black hole within his helmet. Juggernaut, distraught after the murder of his young friend Sammy by Black Tom Cassidy, willingly enters the void to look after the confused Nocturne. * "Astonishing" Team: Cyclops, Emma Frost, Shadowcat, Wolverine, Beast Cyclops' team ditches the leather costumes to bring back spandex, trying to amaze humans and appear more like superheroes. The team faces the extraterrestrial threat of Ord and Genetech's mutant cure. Shadowcat discovers Colossus very much alive within Genetech's Research Facility, and he rejoins his friends. Later, the Danger Room becomes sentient and tries to murder the X-Men. While the future is uncertain for the X-Men, more change seems to be coming. The Scarlet Witch lost control of her reality warping powers and destroyed the Avengers in the process. Magneto took his comotose daughter to Genosha, though niether Xavier nor Doctor Strange could help her. With the combined New Avengers and "Astonishing" X-Men arriving on Genosha to deal Wanda's increasingly worrisome actions, Magneto manipulates her powers to create the House of M; a reality where mutants rule over baseline humans. =Additional Information= Equipment: Danger Room, Cerebro, Cerebra, Image Inducer. Although most X-Men choose to individualize thier costumes, standard blue and gold uniforms are available. Transportation: Blackbird; the original is still in use and Forge has constructed additional models for each team. Weapons: No known weapons. =Social Context= It should be noted that bigotry toward mutants in the world of the X-Men has long been seen as a metaphor for racism, sexism, and prejudice towards certain religions or sexual preferences fequently occuring in the real world. Professor Xavier has been equated to peacful civil rights activists like Dr. Martin Luther King. Conversely, Magneto's extreme views compare to Malcom X and modern day religous radicals. Recently, Storm has been forming her own perspective that acts as a middle ground and is analagous to opinions of moderate progressive activists. =X-Men In Other Media= So far, the X-Men have starred in two sucessful animated series, and two full length motion pictures. X-Men: The Animated Series, ran for five seasons from 1992-97 and featured the most popular X-Characters at the time. X-Men: Evolution debuted in 2000, and portrayed the X-Men as teenagers still learning to control their powers. The first movie, X-Men, served as an introduction into the mutant world. The X-Men battle Magneto and his Brotherhood. The film was very sucessful, and helped revive comic book movies. X2: X-Men United, it's sequel, was loosely based off of the graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills. General Stryker attacks the X-Mansion, and captures Professor X for a plan to kill every mutant on Earth. The second film performed even better than the first. A third film, currently titled X3, is due out next year. The X-Men have also been the subject of over a dozen profitable video games. Noteworthy entires include X-Men 2: Clone Wars for the Sega Genesis, X-Men Vs. Street Fighter, and the recent action/RPG X-Men Legends. =Miscellaneous= Notes & Trivia * Both Wolverine and Beast have been Avengers as well as X-Men. * Angel and Iceman were members of the Champions. Angel, Iceman, and Beast were all Defenders. Recommended Readings * X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills Graphic Novel * X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga TPB * X-Men: Days of Future Past TPB * X-Men: E is for Extinction TPB * X-Men: Imperial TPB Related Articles *Professor X *Cyclops *Wolverine *Storm *X-Factor *New Mutants External Links * Uncanny X-Men.net References * X-Men #1 MARVEL COMICS GROUP © * Essential X-Men Vol. 1-5 (Uncanny X-Men #94-#198, Annuals 1-9, Giant Sized X-Men #1) ---- Return to Team Selection ---- Category:Teams Category:Active Teams Category:Good Teams